In my professional life, I have had the unpleasant experience of dealing with diversity issues in the last few days.
Where I work is truly a diverse workplace. The problem with "diversity" is that it focuses on people's differences. Supposedly celebrating diversity only keeps people with common goals seperated by constantly suggesting we do not have common ground.
I'm reminded of the last winter Olympics in Utah. The U.S. won a gold in the 2 person female bobsled event. As I was watching the gold medal ceremony I was briefly happy the U.S. won. That is until the NBC announcer informed me that it was the first bobsled medal for an African-American. In one split second I went from viewing that person as an American the whole country could celebrate to a black woman. Phrases like "A good role model for black children" infer that she is not a good role model for children of other ethical backgrounds. Isn't it great we have a media that further divides us when we have the opportunity to be most united?
